Shoe-lace fastener.



' "J. 1). EASTMAN.

SHOE LACE FA S'I'ENEB. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1908.

Patented July 5,1910.

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JOSEPH D. EA S'IMAN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

SHOE-LACE FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 30, 1908.

Patented July 5, 1910.

Serial No. 446,063.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrrr D. EASTMAN, of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Shoe-Lace Fastener; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts. 7

The object of this invention is to provide improved lace-holders on the upper part of shoes which will effectually hold the upper ends of the lace after the shoe has been laced, so that when the laces become untied at the top, the lacing on the shoe will not relax or yield. The catches are so formed that they will hold a wide lace in its widened condition or form so as to add to the beauty of the lacing and more securely hold the lace, because of the increase of the extent of the frictional surfaces of the lace and catches. However, the invention is applicable to other articles besides shoes, such as possibly gloves and corsets and other articles held by lace, so I do not wish to limit the invention to use on shoes.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claim.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe provided with my improved lace-holder laced and tied. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upper part of the shoe after the same has been laced, but before the laces have been tied, the lace being centrally broken away and the lower part of the shoe also broken away. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 83 of Fig. 45. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a part of the shoe and one of the catches on a large scale.

In detail the drawings show a shoe 10 and a wide lace 11 that is laced through ordinary holes 12 of the shoe.

My improved lace-holders 14 are for holding the upper end of the laces and, therefore, are secured in any suitable manner to the upper part of the shoe. The lace-holders may be either removably or fixedly secured to the shoe. As herein shown they are removably secured, so that the lace-holder may be combined with an ordinary shoe after the shoe has been made or used.

The lace-holders are made each of one piece of spring metal having a base 15, top 16 and the upper part 17 and lower part 18 of the intermediate spring of the laceholder. The base 15 is secured to the shoe. As herein shown, it has prongs 20 that project through the eye 12 of the shoe and are turned laterally on themselves to secure the lace-holder to the shoe. From one end of the base 15 the catch extends upwardly and horizontally to form the top 16 and said top 16 is continued and turned inwardly in the form of a loop lying between the top 16 and the base 15 and consisting of the upper part 17 and the lower part 18 of what I term the spring loop. This spring loop, therefore, is interposed between the top and base of the catch. The mouth of the spring loop is made flaring, as shown, by the outer end of the upper part 17 being bent upwardly somewhat and the outer end of the lower part 18 being turned downwardly against the shoe. This makes it easy to in sert the lace. There are long bearing surfaces between the parts 17 and 18 of the spring, all of which engage and pinch a wide lace and thus hold it in its wide form. This holding of the lace in its wide form is due to the considerable sprin force which comes from the cooperation of the parts 16, 17 and 18 of the catch, all tending to cause the lace to be gripped tightly.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The combination of a shoe having the usual series of lace eyelets on each side of the upper, of lace holders having base portions provided with prongs inserted in the upper eyelets and bent laterally for securing the lace holders to the eyelets, a top portion extending from one end of the base portion of each lace holder, and a spring loop in continuation of the top portion and lying between said top and base portions, the outer ends of the parts of said spring loop being bent away from each other to form a flaring mouth for the easy insertion of a lace, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

JOSEPH D. EASTMAN.

Witnesses:

V. H. LooKwooD, O. M. GREENER. 

